Watch these YouTube videos to brush up on your use of future forms for plans, predictions and intentions

The differences between cartainty, probability and possibility

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/modal-verbs/certain-probable-or-possible

Present tense

There are two tenses in English – past and present.

The present tenses in English are used:

• to talk about the present
• to talk about the future
• to talk about the past when we are telling a story in spoken English or when we are summarising a book, film, play etc.

There are four present tense forms in English:

Present simple:	I work
Present continuous:	I am working
Present perfect:	I have worked
Present perfect continuous:	I have been working

We use these forms:

• to talk about the present:

He works at McDonald’s. He has worked there for three months now.
He is working at McDonald’s. He has been working there for three months now.
London is the capital of Britain.

• to talk about the future:

The next train leaves this evening at 1700 hours.
I’ll phone you when I get home.
He’s meeting Peter in town this afternoon.
I’ll come home as soon as I have finished work.
You will be tired out after you have been working all night.

• We can use the present tenses to talk about the past...

Click here to try some revision exercises

Transport & Travel ('going to' future)

Click here to go to the video link

Watch this short video clip of a visitor of London, then answer the questions in the tasks below the video link.

Language from this video

Now watch this next video and try the tasks

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street/transport-and-travel-scene-1-language-focus

Can, Could

Possibility

We use the modal can to make general statements about what is possible:

It can be very cold in winter. (= It is sometimes very cold in winter)You can easily lose your way in the dark. (= People often lose their way in the dark)

We use could as the past tense of can:

It could be very cold in winter. (=Sometimes it was very cold in winter.)
You could lose your way in the dark. (=People often lost their way in the dark)

We use could to show that something is possible in the future, but not certain:

If we don’t hurry we could be late. (=Perhaps/Maybe we will be late)

We use could have to show that something is/was possible now or at some time in the past:

It’s ten o’clock. They could have arrived now.
They could have arrived hours ago.

Impossibility:

We use the negative can’t or cannot to show that something is impossible:

That can’t be true.
You cannot be serious.

We use couldn’t/could not to talk about the past:

We knew it could not be true.
He was obviously joking. He could not be serious.

Ability:

We use can to talk about someone’s skill or general abilities:

She can speak several languages.
He can swim like a fish.
They can’t dance very well.

We use can to talk about the ability to do something at a given time in the present or future:

You can make a lot of money if you are lucky.
Help. I can’t breathe.
They can run but they can’t hide.

We use could to talk about past time:

She could speak several languages.
They couldn’t dance very well.

Permission:

We use can to ask for permission to do something:

Can I ask a question, please?
Can we go home now?

could is more formal and polite than can:

Could I ask a question please?
Could we go home now?

We use can to give permission:

You can go home now if you like.
You can borrow my pen if you like.

We use can to say that someone has permission to do something:

We can go out whenever we want.
Students can travel free.

Instructions and requests:

We use could you and as a polite way of telling or asking someone to do something:

Could you take a message please?
Could I have my bill please?

can is less polite:

Can you take a message please?

Offers and invitations:

We use can I … to make offers:

Can I help you?
Can I do that for you?

We sometimes say I can ... or I could ... to make an offer:

I can do that for you if you like.
I can give you a lift to the station.

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/modal-verbs/can-or-could

Ability to follow directions

TIME: 10 Minutes

Name _____________________________________

The object of this exam will point out that directions are made to be followed. Trainees often find difficulty with an assignment not because they can’t do the work, but because they have not followed directions. They have not followed directions because they have not read them carefully enough to fully understand. This would not be wise, because the main direction is this:

READ EVERYTHING BEFORE DOING ANYTHING.

1. Print your last name in the space provided on this page where it says "Name". 
2. Circle the word "provided" in sentence one. 
3. Draw five small squares in the upper left-hand corner of this page. 
4. Put an "X" in each square. 
5. Put a circle around each square. 
6. Underline "ability to follow directions." 
7. After "ability to follow directions," write "Yes." 
8. Put a circle around "each" in sentence five. 
9. Put an "X" in the lower left-hand corner of this page. 
10. Draw a triangle around the "X" that you have just drawn. 
11. Draw a rectangle around the word "squares" in sentence three. 
12. On the reverse side of this paper, in the upper left-hand corner, add 50 and 40. 
13. On the reverse side of this paper, at the top right-hand corner, multiply 70 by 98. 
14. Write your first name before doing anything else on this test. 
15. If you think you have followed directions up to this point, write "I have." 
16. Now that you have followed the directions in the first paragraph to READ EVERYTHING BEFORE DOING ANYTHING, do only sentence one.

How effective is a TV ad?

How do you get a sensitive message across with a hard-sell technique? Simple - call Vinnie Jones.

Learning English

	Emotions idioms - anger

				Cao Tongyou from China writes: In Chinese culture there are a lot of idioms which express people's feelings or emotions. I have learnt a few English idioms, but I do not know how to use them for specified occasions. I would appreciate it very much if you could spare a second to give me some suggestions. Ganka Petkova from Bulgaria writes: I would be grateful if you could explain the exact meaning of words which express human feelings. I'm trying to find a way to remember them. If you could give me some examples of using the right word in the right situation, I'd appreciate it.

	Roger Woodham replies:

			We have many idioms which express human emotions. An idiom is a fixed expression, both grammatically and lexically. It is not possible to replace any of the words in the idiom and retain the idiomatic meaning. For example to let it all hang outmeans to have a very good time. If you said: I'm going to allow it all to hang out, this would change the meaning completely and you might be talking about putting the washing out to dry. Some idioms remain in fashion and contribute to the unique character of a language over a long time. It is useful to know these. Some idioms go out of fashion. New idioms come into fashion over a period of time.
			All of the following idioms describing just one human emotion are currently in use. Pay attention to meaning, but pay particular attention too to the context in which they are used as this will help to clarify when and how to use them. degrees of anger (in increasing intensity) to be / get steamed up - feel annoyed to be / get hot under the collar - feel irritated to be on the warpath - prepare to vent one's anger to be up in arms - protest strongly to be hopping mad - feel very angry to fly off the handle - suddenly lose one's temper to throw a wobbler - become suddenly angry with someone and break down in tears to do one's nut - totally lose one's temper to hit the ceiling / roof - comprehensively lose one's temper to blow one's top / a fuse / a gasket - totally lose one's temper to rant and rave - to argue loudly and energetically When I failed to attend the first seminar, my tutor got verysteamed up about it. Because I told him there's no more money to spend on entertaining clients this month, he got a bit hot under the collar this morning. I've stained the white carpet in the living room, so my mother'son the warpath. The unions are up in arms since management declared there would be only a 2 percent increase on basic wages this year. He's hopping mad because his daughter has borrowed his car for the weekend without first asking his permission. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have flown off the handle like that. Please forgive me. When she learnt that Bill had been cheating on her, she threw a wobbler and wouldn't stop crying. My mother did her nut / hit the roof / blew her top when I told her I was quitting university.

			If you need to calm somebody down, you could say: Take it easy. Or you might hear young people say: Chill out! to feel annoyed and disappointed to be miffed to be sick as a parrot I was a bit miffed when I wasn't invited to Julie's wedding. I was sick as a parrot at the way we lost the match in the last minute. to annoy someone to rub someone up the wrong way to make someone's blood boil He certainly knows how to rub you up the wrong way and he's only four years old. It made my blood boil when I saw that he had taken all the credit for the work I'd done. There are, of course, many emotions (and related idioms) apart from anger, but I will save these for future occasions. Otherwise this reply would be too long.

Verbs followed by 'to + infinitive verb'

Can you identify when to use infinitive or -ing form after a verb?
Try these exercises in the link below.

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/verbs-followed-infinitive

verbs followed by -ing clauses

Here's some -ing form grammar practice

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/verbs-followed-ing-clauses

Common verbs followed by –ing nouns are:

Verbs of liking and disliking:

• detest
• dislike
• enjoy
• hate
• fancy
• like
• love

I love swimming but I hate jogging.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.
A: Do you fancy going for a walk?
B: I wouldn’t mind

Phrases with mind:

• wouldn’t mind (= would like)
• don’t mind (= I am willing to)
• would you mind (= will you please…?)

I wouldn’t mind having some fish and chips.
I don’t mind waiting for a few minutes.
Would you mind holding this for me?

Verbs of saying and thinking:

• admit
• consider
•  deny
• imagine
• remember
• suggest

Our guide suggested waiting until the storm was over.
Everyone denied seeing the accident.

Other common verbs are:

• avoid
• begin
• finish
• keep
• miss
• practise
• risk
• start
• stop

I haven’t finished writing this letter.
Let’s practise speaking English.

Passive form of -ing

Many of these verbs are sometimes followed by the passive form of -ing: being + past participle

I don’t like being interrupted.
Our dog loves being stroked under the chin.

Noun + -ing clause

Some verbs are followed by a noun and an -ing clause:

Verbs to do with the senses:

• see
• watch
• hear
• smell
• listen to
• etc.

We saw everybody running away.
I could hear someone singing.

Other common verbs:

• catch
• find
• imagine
• leave
• prevent
• stop

I caught someone trying to break into my house.
We couldn’t prevent them getting away.

'be / get used to'

Try these exercises using 'used' for speaking about past habit and becoming familiar with new habits.

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-exercises/used-infinitive-and-beget-used

Learn it! The verb 'Get'

Learning English

	get + past participle

				Two questions this week on the use of  get plus past participle: Gholam ali Sobat from Iran writes: Would you please advise me by explaining the differences between married and got marriedand their use? Kyoko from Japan writes: I always check the question and answer web page. It helps me to improve my poor English. I have got a lot of questions. One of them is get in the following sentence: Can you get your work finished by noon? Can you finish your work by noon? Is there very much difference between the two?

	Roger Woodham replies:

			get + past participle There is not very much difference between use of the active verb andget with the past participle in these examples. When we use the getconstruction, it sometimes makes what we are saying more immediate. Compare the following: He married a girl from Texas. (Here the question is who not when, and got married to would be more clumsy.) We got married on New Year's Day. (Here we are focusing on the day itself.) Can you get this done by Friday? ~ Hm. This sounds quite urgent. No problem. Can you do this by Friday? ~ Hm. This doesn't sound too urgent. That should be OK.

			We frequently use get with..engaged/married/divorced/lost/dressed/changed/washed: When are you going to get dressed? You'll be late for school. I'm just going to get changed. Will you wait for me? Don't get lost on the mountains. Make sure you've got a detailed map and a compass. They went out together for about three months and then they got engaged. Note that although we could substitute dress or change for get dressed and get changed in the above examples, we would have to saylose yourselves as an alternative to get lost. There is no alternative for get engaged.

			get + past participle = be + past participle To make passive structures in informal spoken English, we sometime useget instead of be with the past participle: Our cat got run over last Friday when it was trying to cross the road. (= was run over) I know you'll get hurt if you carry on with this relationship. (= be hurt) I got caught doing 120 mph on the M1 and now I've got to go to court. (= was caught) I don't get paid very much for delivering newspapers. (= am not paid)
			get + object + past participle In informal spoken English, when we are talking about having things done for us by others, we sometimes prefer to say get something doneinstead of have something done: When are you going to get your car insured? ~ As soon as I can afford it! David is getting his head shaved, just like all the other footballers. Why don't you get your winter coat dry-cleaned? It will look like new. Remember to get your passport renewed in time - don't leave it until just before you go!